Deadly Reckoning

by Elle James

No matter what position she chose at the table, she could see the window in her peripheral vision. The storm, flashes of lightning and rain lashing at the glass made her imagine things that weren’t there.

  Her imagination had always been her gift as an artist, letting her see drama and grandeur in every play of light and shadow, adding excitement to even the most prosaic landscape painting. But now her imagination seemed more like a curse, taunting her with thoughts of sinister shapes in the darkness.

  One bite at a time, she pushed food past her lips, chewing because she had to, not because she could taste anything. The food lodged in her throat with each swallow.

  After several bites of chicken, she set her fork beside her plate and sighed. “This is ridiculous. I refuse to be afraid of my own shadow.”

  Squaring her shoulders, she lifted her fork and ate with determination to get through the meal before she retreated to her bedroom, locked the door and hid beneath the covers.

  Then, a dark image passed by the glass.

  Kayla’s heart stopped, her hand froze halfway to her mouth and her breath caught on a silent scream.

  Just as quickly as the image appeared, it vanished.

  She dragged air into her lungs and let the fork clatter to her plate. Was that her imagination again? It had seemed so real. Should she call the police?

  Loud thumping on her door gave her at least one answer—the figure she’d seen was definitely real. She leaped to her feet so fast, the chair crashed to the floor behind her.

  “Kayla!” a familiar voice called out. “Let me in!”

  “Dakota?” Kayla inched toward the door, her voice growing louder. “Dakota, is that you?”

  “Yes, let me in. It’s starting to hail.”

  Kayla let the breath she’d been holding out on a whoosh and ran for the door. She moved the chair she’d propped against the handle, pulled back the little bolt Gabe had installed that morning and flung open the door.

  Dakota pushed through, blustery wind splattering the floor with rain, the porch overhangs doing nothing to keep the sideways spray from reaching inside the house. Pea-size hail pinged against the wood decking and roof.

  Kayla slammed the door behind the teen and shot the bolt home. “What are you doing here?”

  Dakota frowned. “I’m staying here to protect you, even if Gabe won’t.”

  “I told him to go home.”

  The boy shook his head. “After what’s happened, he sure as hell should have stayed.” He blushed. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to cuss. But you need someone looking out for you. Gabe told me about that person attacking you in Seattle. If he’s followed you here, he could be the one who tried to run us off the road earlier.”

  Her heart swelled at the determined look on the teen’s face. A tall, skinny lightweight, he wouldn’t be much in the way of defense, but he was like a bulldog in his tenacity. Much like his father. “I can lock the doors. Plus, I’m sure your dad had the police chief promise to send an officer by periodically to check on me.”

  The boy snorted. “And what about in between checks? That douche bag could be in and out before they finish their coffee and donuts.”

  Kayla smiled. “They don’t have a donut shop in Cape Churn.” She laid a hand on Dakota’s arm. “Really, you shouldn’t stay. I can take you home.”

  “I’d just come back and camp out on your porch.” He looked at her with the stubborn countenance of his father. “Please. It would make me feel better knowing someone was with you.”

  Kayla chewed on her lip, admitting to herself, if not to the boy, that company helped take her mind off the shadows drifting by the windows. “Only if we can get hold of your father to let him know you’re okay and that you’ll be staying.”

  Dakota’s face broke out in a grin. “Great. I’ll take the couch.” He flopped onto the couch and glanced up at her. “Don’t mind me at all. I brought my video games.” He held up his portable gaming device.

  Kayla laughed, unable to resist returning the boy’s smile. Given time and a chance to bulk up, he’d be just as handsome as his father. She grabbed the phone from the counter and handed it to the kid. “They turned on my landline today, so this should be working. I’m just going to take a shower. Make that call, will ya?”

  Dakota nodded and punched in the number.

  Not wanting to eavesdrop, Kayla headed for her bedroom, grabbed a towel from the shelf, returned to the living room and tossed it over the sofa at Dakota. “Dry off before you soak the sofa, too.”

  He nodded, his ear pressed to the telephone.

  After a shower, Kayla slipped into her nightgown and bathrobe and stepped out of her room.

  Dakota had fallen asleep on the couch, his gaming device lying on the coffee table beside him.

  No, the boy wouldn’t be much in the way of defense should someone try to attack her, but having him there made Kayla less jumpy and she appreciated that.

  On the flipside, she also knew he couldn’t stay forever. If it weren’t for the terrible weather, she’d hesitate to even let him stay the night. It was one thing to have police officers checking on her—they had training, and weapons they could use to defend themselves. Dakota was just a boy. If her attacker came and Dakota got hurt trying to stop him, Kayla would never forgive herself.

  She lifted the telephone to dial the number for the bed-and-breakfast. Before she finished, a loud crash made her fumble and almost drop the phone as glass shards spewed into the living room.

  Kayla screamed and dropped to the floor.

  “What the hell.” Dakota jumped to his feet.

  “Get down, Dakota!” she shouted, crawling across the floor behind the sofa and around to where he stood.

  “Geez, get a load of that!” He pointed to a baseball-size hole in the picture window. Rain slashed against the gash. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed louder than before.

  Kayla grabbed the teen’s pant leg and tugged. “Get down in case he does it again,” she hissed.

  “Right.” Dakota dropped to a squat and frowned at her. “You should be in the bedroom, not out here. I’ll call the police.” He grabbed the phone from Kayla’s grip.

  Moving behind the couch with Kayla, Dakota punched in 911 and held the phone to his ear. His brows veed. “Nothing. The line’s dead.”

  Her heart hammering against her ribs, Kayla tried to think. “My purse is in the bedroom. We can try the cell phone.”

  “I’ll get it.” Dakota bunched up as if to stand.

  Kayla pressed a hand to his shoulder. “Stay down. We’ll go together.”

  “You go first.” Dakota waited for Kayla to crawl several feet across the wood floor, then followed.

  They’d made it as far as the kitchen when a bright bolt of lightning lit the night, followed by an immediate crash of thunder. The lights blinked and extinguished like a candle blown out.

  “Keep going,” Dakota urged.

  As Kayla’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she moved forward haltingly, waiting for lightning to illuminate her direction.

  As she neared her bedroom door, another boom of thunder rocked the house, ending in a loud banging.

  Kayla ducked behind the kitchen counter, grabbed for Dakota and pulled him in close to her.

  “Think it’s him?” Dakota asked.

  “I don’t know.” Kayla struggled to keep her voice calm so that she didn’t scare the teen. “But we’re going to be all right.” She eased open the drawer above her and fished for a butcher knife, wishing she could stand and grab the can of wasp spray Gabe had left on the counter several feet away from where they hid. When her fingers closed around the handle, she lowered her hand, armed and ready. “I don’t know who it is, but I’ve had enough.”

  “What are you going to do?” Da
kota asked.

  “Stay down.”

  “No. You can’t take on a full-grown man.”

  She pushed to her feet as someone pounded on the cottage door again. “Just watch me.”

  Chapter 11

  Gabe sped down the treacherous highway, hands clutching the steering wheel with a death grip, his tires hydroplaning in the deluge settling in puddles on the pavement.

  He shouldn’t have let Dakota go. With the weather as bad as it was, the boy could be struck by lightning, hit by a car or fall off the drenched roads down a nasty cliff. Guilt wadded in Gabe’s gut at his son’s parting comment.

  Dakota had expecting him to care. Problem was, he cared too much to keep perspective and focus on the case. But the kid had it right, he never should have left Kayla alone. When he pulled in to the driveway of the cottage, there wasn’t a single light on at the cottage. He jammed his foot to the accelerator, blasting down the driveway, coming to a skidding halt in the rain-drenched gravel.

  He was out of the SUV and racing for the door before the engine quit turning over. Between the sheets of rain pouring down and the utter darkness of a stormy night, he could barely see to make his way to the porch. A flash of lightning lit the porch steps.

  He took them two at a time and pounded on the door. No one answered, no sounds emanated from inside. “Kayla!” he shouted at the same time as another bolt struck so close, the thunder drowned his voice.

  All he could think was Kayla and Dakota might be lying dead or dying on the floor. He should never have left her.

  With a deep breath, Gabe reared back, cocked his leg and kicked the door where he remembered he’d installed the temporary lock. The wood jamb splintered and the door crashed inward, more easily than the first time he’d bashed in the door.

  Without missing a beat, Gabe ran in.

  A shadowy figure barreled toward him and a flare of lightning glinted off steel raised overhead—the sharp blade of a very large knife.

  Gabe grabbed a wrist and held it high, recognizing it as that of a woman.

  Before he could say anything, she kicked at his shins. “Leave me alone, damn you.”

  He shook the knife from her hand and it clattered to the floor. “Kayla, honey. It’s me, Gabe.”

  The next flash of lightning illuminated her face. Her eyes widened. “Gabe?”

  “Yeah, baby. It’s okay.”

  “Gabe?” Dakota stepped up behind Kayla. “Thank God, you came back.”

  Gabe pulled Kayla into the curve of his arm and patted Dakota’s arm. “What happened?”

  Dakota filled him in, talking so fast Gabe had to stop him and have him start over twice before he got the full story.

  Outside, the thunder rumbled farther away and the torrential rain that had been pounding at the roof lightened to a soft drizzle. The lights blinked, blinked again and came on.

  Kayla breathed in and let it out in a rush, then pushed away from him. “Dear Lord, I almost killed you.” She ran her fingers over his chest, her eyes glazed, her hand moving in jerky circles.

  He grabbed her wrist and held it steady. “It’s good to know you can defend yourself.”

  She forced a laugh though she felt no humor in the situation. “Yeah. Look how quickly you disarmed me.”

  “I’m trained to react and disarm quickly.”

  “Hopefully the killer isn’t,” Dakota remarked. He’d wandered across the room and was squatting next to a large stone. “This must be what he threw through the window.” He started to reach for the rock.

  “Don’t touch it,” Gabe commanded. “It may have fingerprints on it.”

  Dakota raised his hands in a surrendering motion. “Right. I knew that.” He stood and backed away, staring from the rock to the window.

  “How long ago did the rock come through the window?”

  “Five minutes before you got here, maybe.” Kayla stared at Gabe. “Why?”

  “He might still be around.” Gabe’s jaw tightened. “You two stay here. In fact, lock yourselves in the bedroom. I’m going out to look around.”

  Kayla’s eyes widened. “No.”

  “No,” Dakota said at the same time.

  Gabe gave a half smile. “I’ll be okay. Chances are he’s long gone.”

  “And if he isn’t?” Dakota stepped up beside Gabe. “I’m going with you.”

  His chest swelling with a pride he hadn’t known before, Gabe laid his hands on Dakota’s shoulders. “I need you to stay and protect Kayla in case the killer circles around.”

  Dakota frowned as though chewing on the options. “Okay, but hurry back. With the dead bolt busted, the bedroom door won’t hold long.”

  Gabe liked the way the boy thought through things. “You’ve got that right. I won’t be far. Now, go, lock the door.”

  “Come on.” Dakota hooked Kayla’s arm and started toward the bedroom door.

  Kayla remained rooted to the floor, resisting Dakota’s efforts to guide her into the bedroom. “Be careful.”

  Something different from pride filled Gabe’s chest. He wanted to stay and pull Kayla back into his arms, to wipe away the worry wrinkling her brow. “I have to check outside. It’s my job.”

  Kayla nodded, stared hard at him, then turned and let Dakota lead her into the bedroom.

  On the way, the teen scooped up the butcher knife, balancing it in his hand.

  When the lock clicked in place, Gabe left the cottage, pulling the broken door closed behind him. He’d have to fix that later. For now, he needed to see if their murderer was still on the prowl.

  He circled the cottage, easing around the corners hoping to surprise the culprit. Between the receding flashes of lightning, he caught glimpses of the rocky terrain, but no sign of a man.

  The rain had stopped and a thick mist rose, cloaking the land in a light fog that grew more dense by the minute.

  When Gabe came to the side of the house with the picture window, he slowed, bending low to check for footprints. The earlier hard rain had washed away any traces of the intruder.

  He straightened, glanced in the direction of the cliffs and the sea, barely visible now through the mist. If a man wanted to escape, he’d be better off going for the road. Gabe’s gaze swung up toward the highway. Clumps of trees and bushes dotted the hillside between the lighthouse and highway. If he were trying to hide a vehicle, and didn’t want to get stuck in the mud, the trees closest to the road made the most logical place.

  As he walked toward the stand of evergreens, the fog thickened as if working with the killer to make it hard for Gabe to find him. Before long, he couldn’t see any farther than four feet in front of him.

  When the first tree loomed into view, Gabe jumped back, his heart racing. He chuckled quietly at his own paranoia. At the next tree, he didn’t flinch, moving forward, hopefully toward the road. He’d need the road now to find his way back to the cottage. Cutting across would be far too dangerous. He might end up walking off a cliff.

  A stick popped beside him and Gabe darted to the side, emerged onto the road and stumbled into the side of a dark sedan parked on the shoulder.

  Something hard and thick smashed down on the back of his skull. Stabbing pain flashed like lightning through his head, sending him crashing to the soaked ground, his vision blurring.

  He tried to get up, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. He knew he had to stop this man before he got to Kayla.

  Footsteps tromped through the gravel, moving away. A car door slammed.

  Pressing his hands to the soaked ground, Gabe pushed again. He made it to his knees before a wave of pain shook his arms and he dropped to the earth.

  A car engine started and tires spun onto wet pavement.

  Need to see the license pl
ate. Need to call for backup. Need to get up.

  The Devil’s Shroud descended, blocking Gabe’s vision, sending him into a deep, dark abyss.

  Kayla paced the bedroom floor, wringing her hands. “He’s been gone too long. Something’s wrong.”

  Dakota glanced from her to the door and back. “He said to stay here until he got back.”

  Fifteen minutes had been a long time, twenty was too much for her to take. “He’s in trouble.” Kayla marched for the door.

  The teen stepped in front of her. “Where are you going?”

  “Out to find Gabe.” She tried to push the boy aside, but he stood firm.

  “He wanted us to stay put. What if the killer is out there?”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of. He could have attacked Gabe.” She looked up at the tall, gangly youth. “If he’s bleeding, he could die if we wait too long to find him and get help. Let me by.”

  The boy hesitated. “I don’t know.”

  “Now is not the time to follow orders, Dakota.” She cupped the boy’s face. “What part of your father possibly dying don’t you understand?”

  Dakota frowned. “Okay, but I’m in the lead.”

  “Whatever, just let’s go.” Something surged inside Kayla. Call it worry or intuition, it made her body shake with the need to take action. In her gut she knew Gabe was hurt. He wouldn’t have been gone as long as he had unless something had gone wrong.

  Dakota unlocked the bedroom door and led the way through the house.

  “We need a flashlight. Check everywhere—find one!” Kayla rifled through the kitchen drawers to the right of the sink.

  Dakota took the left side of the counter. With no luck in the kitchen, Kayla searched the front closet while Dakota took the pantry.

  “Here! I found one.” Dakota emerged holding up a flashlight. He flicked the button and light shone through the lens.

  “Good, let’s go.” Kayla arrived at the splintered door first.

  Dakota reached around her and held the knob. “Me first.”

  “Then go,” she said impatiently.